A computer-based platform for Digital breast Tomosynthesis simulation studies

A computer-based platform has been developed in Matlab for Digital Tomosynthesis (DTS) studies dedicated for breast imaging. The platform will incorporate different reconstruction algorithms that have been developed for DTS and a number of filters that can be used before or after the reconstruction of the image in order to remove the noise. The platform was exploited to compare the quality of images reconstructed with different algorithms. For this purpose, a limited number simulated projection data of a tissue-equivalent breast phantom was generated using an in-house developed XRayImagingSimulator. The quality evaluation of reconstructed breast images shows an advantage for filtered algorithms. The platform will allow the comparison of results and optimization and further development of reconstruction and noise removal algorithms.